


Camp One-Dream

by holybodies



Category: Stray Kids (Band), TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Camp AU, M/M, baby chanlix, baby hyunin, enemies? to lovers, kai just wants to be an epic counselor, soobin just wants to put kai in his pocket, will probably be rated eventually for summer fling goodness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26096422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holybodies/pseuds/holybodies
Summary: Huening Kai returns to the summer camp of his childhood, excited to finally be promoted to a camp counselor in charge of the Dog Cabin.At least, he would be excited, if the annoying counselor of the Cat Cabin would stop treating him like he was still one of the campers.OrTXT work together at a summer camp and Kai has had enough of that stupid counselor Soobin babying him.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Choi Soobin/Huening Kai
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	Camp One-Dream

“Bye, mom. Bye, dad. Bye, Bahiyyih. Bye, Lea.” Kai wished his family goodbye one by one, his arms spreading wide and closing around each of them in a quick hug. In the early years, these drop off goodbyes almost always ended in tears (his) and snot-covered shirts (his dad’s). But this year was different. Kai was a grown 18 years old now, an adult. Adult enough to finally get approved to be a counselor in charge of a whole bunk of rabid children, the same age he was when he first came to Camp One-Dream.

Beside him, his best friend Taehyun was repeating the same process with his own family, his hand rubbing their backs tenderly. That was just like him. If Kai could describe his friend, he’d definitely choose the word tender. 

They had become friends at this very place, after Kai had started bawling in their bunk out of homesickness, clinging helplessly to his stuffed dolphin. Even though Taehyun was the same age, he comforted him in his mature way, letting Kai cry it out on his shoulder and rub his belly until he fell asleep with drying tear tracks on his cheeks. They’d been inseparable ever since, meeting up every summer to run wild on the One-Dream grounds until they were forced to part for the start of the school year.

Kai couldn’t believe that after nearly 10 years of attending this camp, he and Taehyun got the chance to work here. He had grand daydreams of having kids follow him around, calling him “big brother Kai”, and imparting the deep wisdom he had gained over his long 18 years to the youths in his cabin. He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of a whistle, a voice on a megaphone calling for all the campers and counselors to say their goodbyes and gather in the community square. 

“Alright, I really have to go! I’ll write to you guys. See you in a few weeks!” Waving his hand to his family, he grabbed Taehyun by the wrist and pulled him towards the center square. 

Before he could get very far, he crashed into soft body, stumbling back with a stunned expression.

“Oops. Sorry, I was rushing to get to the opening meeting. First day of camp excitement, right?”

“Cute… are you a new camper? You look like such a baby. Is it this cutie’s first year?” The boy in front of him was tall, round-cheeked, and leaning in to him with his hands on his knees like he was talking to an honest to god child. Taehyun shot out a laugh behind him and all Kai could do was open and shut his mouth, his ears beginning to burn with embarrassment. 

“I’m… no! I’m a new counselor here. You know, counselor. Big man in charge. I’m 18.” Kai stood up straighter, in the meagre hopes that it would make him appear more grown and less like the baby the other apparently saw in him. 

“Ah? Is that so?” The boy’s brows raised, eyes glinting with mirth and not an ounce of bad will. Great. He wasn’t even teasing Kai, he fully thought he was some kid. “I am too. I’m Soobin, one of the senior counselors this year.” He held his hand out for Kai’s, lips pressing together in a smile that made his cheeks look impossibly rounder.

“I’m Kai. This is Taehyun, he’s a counselor this year too.” Kai took the boy’s hand gingerly, shaking his fingers more than his hand. He looked at the ground when the handshake seemed to go on a little too long, prying his hand away with a nervous ‘ha ha’ of a laugh. “Anyways… we better go. Nice meeting you!”

“Oiii. Are you going to get over here or what, Soobin?” An older boy with a bad yellow dye job yelled from a few feet away, hands cupped around his mouth. “Stop scaring the campers.”

“I’m not a—whatever. Let’s go, Tae.” Kai all but dragged Taehyun behind him, the other dissolving into laughter as he waved at Soobin and followed behind.

Over the course of the welcome meeting, counselors were assigned their cabin and the motley crew of kids they’d be in charge of for the next few weeks. Kai waited with bated breath to hear his name called, his heart thrilling with anticipation for the start of his journey as a counselor. 

“And finally, the Dog Cabin. You’ll be with Counselor Kai over here. Felix Lee, Chris Bang, Jisoo…” The camp manager read off a list of kid’s names, tapping them on their head as they passed to steer them Kai’s way. Kai threw a nervous glance over at Taehyun, already patting the backs of a few of the kids of his Puppy Cabin warmly, and his friend smiled back as if to try to dispel his nervousness. 

What if he was too young for this still? He was just 18. Some people would consider that a kid. A kid in charge of kids? What well-meaning person would do that?

Swallowing down the panic threatening to spill over in his chest, he squatted in place, hoping bringing his tall frame down to his wards’ level might endear them to him somehow. “Uh… hi. I’m Kai, like she said. Let’s all get along well and if you have any questions, you can ask me. I basically grew up here.”

There were a lot of blank stares, but some nervous smiles and he felt confident that maybe, just maybe by the end of camp they’d all be holding hands around the fire singing kumbayaah. Literally. That is, until a rousing chorus of children’s voices rose in a cheer from somewhere nearby, followed by fits of laughter. Off next to him, Soobin’s group was in a tight huddle, each camper smiling brightly with their counselor hovering over them with the proud look a father might give his offspring. Show off. 

Dragging his eyes away from the sight, Kai set his mouth into a flat smile and clapped his hands against his knees. “Whose ready to unpack?”

The camp was separated into four different cabins, each divided by age. Taehyun had been assigned the Puppy Cabin, entrusted with the youngest members of the camp who would surely wake up crying every other night from homesickness, just as Kai had. It was the perfect assignment for his patient friend and he was sure the camp managers had chosen the counselor most likely to handle the 11-year-old baby campers with care. 

The next cabin was the Cat Cabin, led by Soobin of the Skyscraper Height and Non-working Eyes, as Kai had dubbed him mentally while he zoned out during the morning meeting. The cabin housed the 12-year-olds, typically boisterous and sociable, grown out of the homesickness of the year before.

The boy with the piss-poor dye job he learned was Yeonjun, the head counselor of the Wolf cabin, who ruled the roost with his merry band of 14-year-olds, the oldest bunch at the camp. This year he was joined by his mushroom-haired second in command, Beomgyu, a head counselor in training who seemed to worship the ground Yeonjun walked on. 

Lastly, was the Dog Cabin, Kai’s very own. As he looked around, all he could say about this age group was… they were awkward. At the age of 13, they were unsure of themselves and what they were supposed to do with their hands, their gangly bodies, their entire personalities. He’d never admit it but he could relate. He held a hesitance of his own in his body, his subconscious a tangled mess of thoughts about college, sex, and other things he couldn’t imagine yet but was sure he’d have to confront sooner rather than later. 

Kai was broken out of his thoughts by the thump of pillow to pillow contact. All of the campers were supposed to be settling into their bunks, putting their belongings into their home for the next few weeks. Kai, the model camper (those years of practice counted for something), had long since finished, all of his multi-colored hoodies sorted in perfect ROYGBIV order. He sat up off his cot to investigate, only to see two of his campers wailing at each other, their bags forgotten on the floor and only half unpacked. 

“Hey, hey, hey, Felix. Chris. Stop that right now.” Kai snatched Felix’s pillow out of the air and held it up high out of reach. His heart was thumping and he flattened his expression into what he hoped was a stern one. This was what he was most worried about, looking out of control, having his campers run wild and him looking inept, irresponsible. 

“We were just goofing around. It’s camp, geez.” Felix muttered, turning around despondently to start pulling socks out of the bag he had abandoned earlier. Chris gave him a final shove by the shoulder, grinning and going back to his own bunk where he had all his swim trunks laid out neatly.

“Okay just… be more gentle? Maybe?” He cringed as he could hear his own voice quiver, and he high tailed it out of the cabin, only to realize he still had Felix’s pillow hugged to his chest.

This was going to be harder than he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I plan to update this chapter by chapter because I'm working full-time and writing during breaks, and then compile it into one full fic. I'm very excited and have a lot planned already so stay tuned... 
> 
> ONE IMPORTANT THING. I'd love some input from readers! Who are some idols/characters you'd like to see as campers in the respective cabins? I already have a few assigned but I'd love to hear who else should join and who you think would go well with which counselor.


End file.
